We are getting grief from this outfit. I'd assumed they were spammers but they seem to be a quoted company who are ISOQAR and UKAS Quality Assured. The pattern is:
1) Send a threatening letters claiming £1,018 "or else we'll take you to court". No detail of what the debt comprises. 2) You reply to them Recorded Delivery. 3) They keep sending letters "We are disappointed you have not replied to our previous..."Anyone know what's going on?
Why?
There's a common spam in this area which goes like this:
1) You send a bill to a random pensioner demanding £62.50. 2) Pensioner gets very frightened and phones back on the number provided. 3) Matter is soon sorted out, and it turns out the bill is not really a bill, but an offer. 4) Pensioner finds a month later that premium rate phone call cost £9.So I wouldn't phone such people. Recorded letter costs less than a pound and provides evidence that I have replied despite their assertions that I haven't.
There's a common spam in this area which goes like this:
1) You send a bill to a random pensioner demanding 62.50. 2) Pensioner gets very frightened and phones back on the number provided. 3) Matter is soon sorted out, and it turns out the bill is not really a bill, but an offer. 4) Pensioner finds a month later that premium rate phone call cost 9.So I wouldn't phone such people. Recorded letter costs less than a pound and provides evidence that I have replied despite their assertions that I haven't.
why do you need to provide evidence?
Because they are threatening to take me to court unless I repay this "debt". I have no idea what they are talking about, and when I write to ask them what they are talking about they send me a letter saying: "We are surprised we haven't heard from you!"
If it gets to court, or if I am blacklisted by Equifax etc, I'll be counter-attacking with some Trading Standards/Quality Assurance complaints. Recorded delivery will prove I *had* written to them when they expressed surprise that I hadn't :)
Troy Steadman wrote: ...
Have you looked at their website? Aktiv Kapital appear to be a company that purchases and collects debts. Maybe the OP owes someone else some money????
They claim to adhere to relevant codes of practice; and they reference
So will a certificate of posting, but even that is not necessary. The onus is on them to convince you that you owe anything, not just to claim baldly that you do. You are under absolutely no obligation to correspond with them, be it to confirm or deny the debt.
Indications are that they are bogus, and so they will not in fact take you to court. If they did, not only will the court papers make clear what the alleged debt is for, but at that stage you will still have the opportunity (should you agree the debt) to pay up, and (I think) without liability for court fees, unless they can show they have previously written you a "last chance" letter *with* details. The bumf thay have been sending doesn't really count, since it doesn't explain the debt.
It's worth reporting them to the police if you have the slightest suspicion that they are trying to defraud unsuspecting pensioners and other naive victims in the way you describe.
Fraud squad have sharper teeth than QA/TS.
Incidentally, what do you mean by "they *seem to be* a quoted company who are ISOQAR and UKAS Quality Assured"?
They seem to be guilty at least of sharp practice, which I find somewhat amusing for a company among the former names of which is "Sharpbranch Ltd".
I think maybe somebody has sold them a dodgy debt. Failing that you may remember Candice and she lives not a milion miles from Chester :)
A search on all these acronyms and companies suggested to me a big, reputable company. I have always found Norwegians trustworthy but they do have a reputation for knocking off at 5.30pm even though there is 4 hours of work left to do :)
Sharpbranch doesn't sound good. I'd assumed incompetence but maybe they are the criminal spammers I at first took them for.
Because they are threatening to take me to court unless I repay this "debt". I have no idea what they are talking about, and when I write to ask them what they are talking about they send me a letter saying: "We are surprised we haven't heard from you!"
If it gets to court, or if I am blacklisted by Equifax etc, I'll be counter-attacking with some Trading Standards/Quality Assurance complaints. Recorded delivery will prove I *had* written to them when they expressed surprise that I hadn't :)
So would you send registered letters to anyone who sent you threatening demands for money? Why jump to their tune? If they are reputable/on the level, one letter back to them would suffice. If they arent, and its a scam, why do any more? In fact, given the way they started with a blank demand for money, one letter to the police, claiming that you are being harrassed, is probably the best course of action.
The police are too busy wasting their time to do any work. Most their training consists of learning to explain why a crime is not a police matter.
Thanks for your support chaps, but Aktiv Kapital are genuine. None of their Quality Accredentials impress me, but no spammer would have the class to sponsor Chester Races.
16:40 The Aktiv Kapital Handicap Stakes (For 3-y-o+ rated 71-85) (Class 4)
Don't read too much into it. Company formation agents tend to make up names by randomly combining two or more words. One of Aktiv's sister companies was originally "Flatphone Ltd".
Someone ought to charge them with, erm, wasting police time!
Has anyone ever told you you have an above average cynicism rating for your age?
In message , Troy Steadman writes
They've been writing to someone who has never lived at my house for the past 5 years, and I am guessing they havent taken any action, so I would just ignore them.
You could always try writing to the BBC ie Watchdog or You and Yours. Or how about trading standards?
My wife had a dispute with a delivery van driver near our home. The road was narrow and instead of parking they stopped in the middle of the road and when she asked them to park properly they hurled abuse at her. She called me and asked me to call the police. I then went to the scene and the driver was abusive to me and then deliberately tried to run me over. This was watched by a couple in the garden across the road. The couple confirmed they had seen this.
Three policemen came and I gave them the van registration number. I got them to confirm my story with the couple. When I asked them if they were going to arrest the driver they one of them said: "It'll be your word against his". I said: "What about the couple who witnessed it?". This produced an embarrassed silence from the police although I'd heard the couple confirm my story.
Maybe the driver had caused no harm to me but I feel that the driver and his helper felt more confident that unreasonable behaviour was unlikely to be punished.
The police can be a total waste of time.
Realist, 53 years old.
Trading Standards remind me of the police!
Appalling
I'd have got an incident number from them then followed up in writing to the chief constable. You have 14 days to do this. Stupid paper bound people/organisations often take letters more seriously than face to face communication. Did you launch a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority ?
Daytona
In message , Peter Saxton writes
Agreed,
Realist, 45 years old
If they are sending out demands that you are supposed to reply to using a premium rate number (implied by a reply by the OP), and the cost of the call is hidden, then you should report them to the premium rate regulator - ICSTS (I think)
However: (Space for comments about ICSTS being as Trading Standards and as Police etc)
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